Wednesday, 12 March 2014

The adventures of Vincent, Verity and a Variety of Vacationing Visogs

The lovely Sheila Swanson at Oil and Glass Gallery and Workshop has declared March to be Visog Aid Month. Oil and Glass very kindly chose Shopmobility Aberdeen to be one of the charities being supported and for each Green Visog sold they will be donating £1-00 to us.

What's a Visog? a Visog is a cute little glass friend who will brighten your day, your keys, your bag, phone or anywhere you want to hang them.

We are looking to have as many Little Green Men as possible out and about and are encouraging you to take photographs of your visiting Visog and tell us a story about their day out.

Saturday, 8 March 2014

A Fresh Approach

Shopmobility is going mobile and wants your opinion

For
almost 20 years, Shopmobility Aberdeen was right at the heart of the main
retail area of the city in Flourmill Lane.This site was no longer available to us at the end of 2011 and we had to
move our operation to our Union Square office.The base at Union Square is a pleasant, comfortable and modern
buildingbut it is too far from Union
Street, Bon Accord, St Nicholas and the Trinity shopping centres to be
convenient for many of our service users.

Belfast Shopmobility

We at Shopmobility Aberdeen have been actively looking at ways we might resolve this for the benefit of our existing customers, attract new people to our services and have a brand new resource for the city, so the idea to create a Mobile Shopmobility Unit was born.

In addition, to serving the north side of Union Street, there
are many local shopping and leisure facilities situated in the various
suburbs of Aberdeen. The Mobile Shopmobility Unit would ensure that
people with barriers to their mobility living in these communities could use these facilities
to their full.The Mobile Shopmobility
Unit could also be used to provide access to parks, gardens and entertainment
venues etc. Whilst
organisers of such events usually make every effort to make their events accessible to
everyone, the topography of Aberdeen often hinders mobility and inclusion at
them e.g. the international market, the New Year party, Highland Games.The Mobile Shopmobility Unit has the potential to increase
the access to public events and gatherings by providing the equipment necessary
to combat the inclines and distances which regularly make accessing such events
very difficult.

Hong Kong Library

The Mobile
Shopmobility Unit would be a vehicle which contains everything needed to offer
Shopmobility Aberdeen services to people in their local area and in the city
centre.It would transport
mobility equipment, information and volunteers to where they are needed.The Mobile
Shopmobility Unit would be accessible to members of the public wishing to use
the services it provides. There would be
a welfare area and a toilet on board so that people who use the scheme can have
somewhere safe, comfortable and warm to be whilst they complete paperwork, get further
information, or just sit and have a chat with our staff. We are very aware that for many of our
service users their visit to Shopmobility is the only social interaction they
may have from week to week and that this vital part of our service must be
protected and offered in everything we do.Anyone
living, working or visiting Aberdeen will be welcome to use the Shopmobility
Mobile Unit. It
will be available to anyone who is experiencing mobility problems whether
temporary or permanent.This enables
people who are recovering from accidents, injury etc to maintain their
lifestyles and it will afford increased independence and choice to those who have a
permanent mobility impairment. The
Shopmobility Mobile Unit will also be able to act as a meeting point for volunteers from our Sustainable Connections Transport
Team (SCOTT)and their clients, please see previous post for details of the SCOTT service.In order to make the most of this vehicles potential, it could have alternative purposes when not in use by Shopmobility
Aberdeen or whilst at special events. By removing the mobility equipment from
the vehicle in the evening, it could then be used by the street pastors as a
warm refuge for city centre revellers. Because it will be fitted with a toilet
and a welfare area it could serve as a first aid station and because of its
size would make an ideal place for lost children to go to should they become
separated from their parents or carers etc. Whilst
Shopmobility Aberdeen may not be in a position to staff this sort of activity
initially, the offer of the vehicle could be made to other organisations who
may wish to use it for their own purposes. This
multi-use adaptability could be offered, for a fee, to other groups, businesses and organisations for
use at social gatherings, open days, events etc.We would love to hear your ideas about this project, where you would like to see it, how you imagine others using it etc.

Stirling Library

All photographs are for illustration only and are not the property of Shopmobility Aberdeen

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Community Poem Project

Shopmobility Aberdeen is currently working with a number of local schoolsto create community poems. We are hoping to open this project up to other members of the community for this years National Poetry Day 2nd October, 2014.

The theme this year is Remember.

To get your school, church, club, association or community group involved please email Andy on shopmobevents@gmail.com

Water Balmedie Primary School

We live by the sea

Our beautiful beach

With gigantic sand dunes

And sparkling waves

Beneath a sizzling sun

The salty sea, as blue as the sky,

Bathes shoals of fish

As waters grab hold of the sands

Sea, as clear as glass,

Helps seaweed swim around rocks,

And glitters in the sunshine

Crashing on warming shores

Dark, greying skies pour torrential rain

As we shout and sing into the wind

While wandering waves lap

At tired feet.

Balmedie Slumbers

Tides ebb and flow, peacefully

As seals pop heads above water

To bid us good night.

Water Bramble Brae Primary School

Imagine your bath was different

It's full of tadpoles and frogs

And the gurgling, swirling water stream

Is being lapped at by thirsty dogs

The Amazon Basin is your front room

You have Rainforest on the stair

And you use the foamy whirlpool

To wash your dirty hair.

The washing machine is a waterfall

The dishwasher, a Tsunami

And each time she opens up the door

Water swooshes over Mammy

But water keeps us healthy

Showers keep us clean and cool

We put it in our fish tanks

Or in our swimming pool

Just remember when you're thirsty

Those who walk for miles each day

To reach their local water well

To try and drink fresh water each day

Sustainable Connections Transport Team

Are You....

Finding it difficult to move around Aberdeen? is this because of physical disability, sensory impairment, because of age related problems, stress, anxiety, lack of confidence, illness or injury? Do you find that public transport is difficult for you. Perhaps all you need is companionship or support?

Do You Enjoy...

Being part of the local community, having conversations with interesting people about a range of topics, visiting the city centre, saving some money and, at the same time, the environment?

Are You A Pioneer?

Then SCOTT is for you.

The Sustainable Connections Transport Team (SCOTT) is a pioneering new way for people who face barriers to their mobility to access Aberdeen City Centre. Using SCOTT will be fun and will broaden your horizons, help you get around, meet new people and boost your confidence.

Are You....

Outgoing, Motivated, Enthusiastic?

Do You Enjoy...

Company, Socialising, Conversation?

Are You Keen To....

Build your Confidence, Learn, Develop Existing Skills, Have a positive Impact on Your Community and Its Environment?

Are You A Revolutionary?

Then SCOTT has the perfect opportunity for you!

SCOTT is going to revolutionise the way people who face barriers to their mobility access Aberdeen City Centre. Volunteering with SCOTT will be fun, will equip you with transferable skills for employment and boost your confidence.

Hong Kong Hike, The Return!

Home again Home again Jiggidy Jog

In August of last year, Shopmobility Aberdeen organised a virtual walk from Aberdeen Harbour, Scotland, to Aberdeen Harbour, Hong Kong. We were delighted to arrive in Hong Kong in January, a mere 6 months after setting off. The route took us through the capital cities of Scotland, England, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, and Vietnam before finally making landfall in Aberdeen Hong Kong.

We re looking for additional intrepid adventurers to help us make the journey back home to good old Aberdeen UK.

It's easy to join in the Hike and you need not do anything out of the ordinary. To participate, just go about your daily routine but wearing a pedometer, milometer or using a smart phone app to measure the distance you travel each day then submit your total each week and see how many interesting places we can visit on our way home.

First sets of return miles will be posted on Wednesday 12th March, all those wishing to take part should email their miles by Tuesday 11th.

To Boldly Blog Where No-one has Blogged Before?

(Sincere apologies to Gene Roddenberry)

Welcome to the first entry of our new blog. The reason for the blog is to keep you up to date with all the news, events, and general chat regarding our activities at Shopmobility Aberdeen. if you found this blog from the link on our web site, thanks for visiting. If not please use this link to find more information about Shopmobility Aberdeen an the services it provides Shopmobility
We are very keen for you to use this blog as a place to engage in conversation, make comments, express opinions, give us feed back and make suggestions on how we can improve or expand out services.

This is a very exciting and fast moving time for us at Shopmobility Aberdeen, we have a number of irons in the fire and new services coming online at the end of March as well as a number of fun events and activities which we would love you to take part in.

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About Me

Shopmobility Aberdeen offers increased independence, self esteem and choice to people with disabilities. We are a service dedicated to helping anyone with a mobility difficulty, be it temporary or permanent, who wishes to visit the city centre of Aberdeen to conduct business, enjoy our many visitor and cultural attractions, or to visit the wide variety of shops, leisure and business services.